At the End of the Day
by weethreequarter
Summary: After a long day, all Kate wants it a night in with her family on the couch. Future fic. Oneshot. Now corrected!


With a sigh heavy with exhaustion, Kate Beckett slumped against the back wall of the elevator as the doors closed with a ding and began to rise smoothly to the top floor. It had been one of _those_ days. The case they were working had been going on for a few days, so she'd had an early start, leaving even before her children were awake. A quick kiss from her half asleep husband and she was out the door. Then into the precinct with a double espresso to get her going and go, go go all morning. Then around midday, they caught a break. And around three, they caught the killer. Then the never ending mountains of paperwork until eventually, at last, five o clock rolled around. She sent Ryan and Esposito home before dragging herself to her car and driving home. Now, here she was, slumped in the elevator, hoping that her husband had either cooked or ordered take out. Cause there was no way she was cooking tonight. All she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with her family and a glass of wine.

Her eyelids heavy, Kate fumbled for a minute with her key, finding the lock. Then at last it slipped it, allowing her into her home and away from the madness and noise of the city.

"Mommy!" two voices cried, practically in unison. Kate was ambushed immediately by her children; nine year old Henry and five year old Jo collided with their mother's legs.

"Hey guys," she grinned.

"Happy birthday!" Henry and Jo chorused without loosening the grips on her legs. As Kate grinned, she became aware of her husband watching them.

Richard Castle watched his wife's face light up at their children's words. This morning he'd barely managed to mumble, "Happy birthday" before she'd left for work, let alone give her a gift. He knew – thanks to Ryan and Esposito – that the case had been a long and difficult one and now that it was over, Kate would be ready for some family time.

Henry and Jo dragged her into the apartment, towards the couch and coffee table which she now saw supported a pile of presents.

"Wow guys, what is all this?" she asked, Jo and Henry sitting on either side of her. Castle wandered over, perching on the armchair with a soft smile on his face.

"Your birthday presents," Henry replied in a _well, duh_ voice that he'd inherited from his father.

"Happy birthday mommy," Jo said, handing Kate a present.

"Thank you sweetie," Kate grinned. Carefully she removed the sellotape from the paper to reveal a homemade beaded bracelet. She slipped it into her wrist. "Jo, it's beautiful."

"I made it with grandma," Jo explained. "And I used blue cause it's your favourite colour and purple cause it's mine and green cause it's Henry's."

"Thank you so much," Kate said, pressing a kiss into her daughter's hair.

"My turn!" Henry said impatiently, grabbing a package from the pile.

"Okay. Let's see what this is." Kate turned her attention to the gift. Pulling it from the paper, she realised it was a number of A4 pages bound together. She turned it over and read the writing. "The Fairy Tale Detective Agency by Henry Castle."

"Dad let me use his computer to type it so it looked really professional like one of his books," Henry added.

"It looks great honey. Will you read it to me later?"

Henry nodded excitedly.

"Right, out the way you two," Castle announced. "Dad's turn. Why don't you two go finish getting the table ready?"

Henry and Jo disappeared, allowing Castle to join her on the couch.

"Dinner too?" Kate asked.

"Your favourite: my famous homemade three cheese lasagne with garlic bread. But first, for the lovely lady." With a flourish, Castle presented her with an envelope. "Happy birthday Kate," he added quietly.

"Thanks," she whispered, leaning forward to kiss him. Then, settling back with his arm around her, she split the envelope open with her finger. Full of curiosity, she pulled out the contents. As soon as the words printed on the pieces of card registered, she turned to her husband with a gasp. "Italy? For two weeks? Is this for real?"

He nodded.

"I already cleared it with the captain. Two weeks, just the four of us. I know how hard you've been working lately. Thought it might be nice to have a break – a proper break with no work related interruptions."

"From either of us," she teased. "Thank you."

As they shared another quick kiss, Henry and Jo came racing back to inform them dinner was ready. After dinner, they returned to the couch where Kate opened the rest of her presents; from Ryan and Jenny, Esposito, Lanie, Alexis, Martha, and her father. Meanwhile, Castle appeared with a birthday cake, decked out with candles.

"Do you have the right number of candles for mum's age?" Henry asked. Kate and Castle shared a glance. Kate was by no means one of those women who stressed about her age, but she was under no illusions that the cake would have to be much bigger for the correct number of candles to fit on it.

"Why don't you two come and help me blow out the candles?" she suggested, distracting him from the question. Henry and Jo agreed enthusiastically. Then they rushed off to pick a DVD from the collection. Castle collapsed onto the couch beside her, holding out a bowl with cake and ice cream. "Thanks," she smiled gratefully. "For everything. Tonight has been perfect. You really are amazing sometimes you know."

"Only sometimes?" he feigned hurt. She elbowed him in the stomach. "Well you see, I was blessed with these fabulous powers at birth. However I sworn to only use them for the powers of good. I agreed but, only on the condition that once every ten years I could use them to spoil the woman I love."

Kate stared at him.

"Have you been watching _At World's End_ again?" she asked. "You know most people just say you're welcome."

Castle stretched his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

"You're welcome," he whispered. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

Henry and Jo thundered back into the room, a DVD clutched in Henry's fist. Jo jumped onto her dad's lap while Henry dropped onto the floor in front of the TV.

"What's the movie then?" Castle asked. Henry waved the case at him as he slipped the disc into the DVD player. "Oh no, not _Tangled_ again!"

"You love it really," Kate teased.

"Are you kidding? I'm totally using a frying pan as a weapon in my next book," he replied quietly.

Scrambling to his feet, Henry raced to the couch and snuggled into his mother's side after helping himself to the final bowl of cake and ice cream from the coffee table. Kate smoothed down her son's hair as he stared at the screen, engrossed in the movie they'd all seen a dozen times before. She leaned over to her husband as Rapunzel began to sing on screen.

"Best birthday ever," she whispered in his ear.


End file.
